I have to be honest, I have loved watching the inaugural 3-on-3 basketball tournament at the Tokyo Olympics. In particular, watching the USA women’s team win gold was even more enjoyable than expected. Led by 6-5 Stefanie Dolson and 5-8 Kelsey Plum, it was both exhilarating and exhausting to watch the non-stop action and how physical the game was. Plum was the top scorer in the tournament with 55 total points.

Completing the four woman team were 6-foot forwards in Allisha Gray and Jackie Young as the foursome went 8-1 on their way to the gold medal. With the Paddy Power sport offer, you could have made some money on Team USA during these unusual Olympics.

The interesting thing about this team is these four aren’t the best that the United States could put on the floor – players like Breanna Stewart, Brittney Griner and Diana Taurasi are represented on the US National Team. And between them all, only Dolson has been an WNBA All-Star.

That got me thinking about the selection process – what skill sets do they look for when choosing players for the 3 x 3 tournament where games are just 10 minutes long? Plum was especially effective as she was not only a threat from the outside but was as effective attacking the rim. Dolson was equally valuable as she took advantages of pick-and-rolls, as well as using her big body to establish position for offensive rebounds (and put backs).

If you could pick four NBA players…

As much as I love watching the women’s game, I am more of an NBA fan and naturally I started to think about which American NBA players on the men’s side would make the most dangerous foursome. Offensively there is no lack of individual talent and shot makers. On that side, some of the best one-on-one players would be players like Brooklyn Nets Kyrie Irving, James Harden, and Kevin Durant. All three are at the top of their game in terms of getting the shots they want, when they want. Then we have Steph Curry, Paul George, Kawhi Leonard, Devin Booker, Trae Young, and Khris Middleton.

But if this year’s three-on-three tourney is representative of what it will look like in future Olympics, you won’t be able to just out-offense teams. The breakneck speed of the game and constant screening means there’s a higher value placed on the ability to quickly switch defensively, strength to defend bigger players, intelligence to make fast decisions, as well as having a non-stop motor.

For me those attributes eliminate players like Irving, Harden and Curry. With those things in mind, here’s the four players I would choose to represent the men’s team:

Kawhi Leonard For me, Kawhi is the perfect 3-on-3 player. His combination of size, speed, agility and strength puts him above any other US player. Kawhi can shoot, he can drive, can defend big guys when needed and clamp down smaller guards with his length, quick hands and instincts.

Kevin Durant This is a no-brainer, not only can Durant score at will on the offensive end, but he is a really good defender that can easily switch onto a big guy in the post or chase down a small guard with his length.

Anthony Davis Like Durant, his length and size would prove invaluable for the team. He would be the screen setting for Team USA and if the opponents switched, it would be all over whether it was AD sealing the smaller defender or camping under the rim in case Durant or Leonard missed.

Joe Johnson Don’t @ me. Watch Johnson’s highlights from the Big 3. They call him ISO JOE for a reason and his ability to hit shots from all over the floor makes the 6-7 former NBA player Joe Johnson an easy pick as Team USA’s reserve.

With their length, strength and all-around skill set on both sides of the floor and as long as Kawhi, Durant, AD and Joe Johnson had chemistry, I don’t think a team of four in the world that could consistently beat them. They would wear down big men on offense and wear down teams with small guards on defense.